Before Yun Che could even speak, Li Han acted. The stone bead surged with power, erupting in a flash of spectral azure light that dragged Yun Che into another Void Shift, reappearing over a thousand meters away.
Fujin Third frowned, then snorted coldly. Stepping onto his jade sword, he transformed into a white arc of light and pursued without hesitation.
Two streaks of light tore across the frozen plains, one chasing the other. The pursuers from Cold Crow City had long since been left behind—only Fujin Third remained, relentlessly closing in.
The longer the chase continued, the more unsettled Fujin Third became. With his late–Foundation Establishment cultivation, his flight speed was already exceptional. Yet every time he was about to catch up, the boy ahead would vanish in an instant, widening the distance once more.
“Void shifting… Even for a Core Formation cultivator, that technique consumes an enormous amount of spiritual energy. Yet this brat is only at the Qi Condensation stage, and he’s using it repeatedly… He must be carrying a supreme treasure!”
Greed burned hotter in Fujin Third’s eyes. He did indeed have ties with Chen Zhong, the senior disciple of Blood Refining Master. Days earlier, he had received a message requesting assistance in capturing and killing the traitor Zhang Mingyuan and his accomplices. It had been a casual favor at first.
But now—
The secrets on this boy alone were enough to tempt him beyond reason.
“Kill him. Take everything,” Fujin Third thought coldly. “Out here in the endless icefields, who would ever know how a nameless rogue cultivator died?”
His resolve hardened. His speed increased once more.
Yun Che swallowed another mouthful of Cold Marrow Spirit Liquid, a ruthless glint flashing through his eyes. He opened his mouth and spat out a streak of dark green light.
The Bloodfiend Sword!
Blood-red veins pulsed along the blade, exuding a thick stench of slaughter as it shot backward like a poisonous serpent.
Fujin Third saw it clearly. He sneered and flicked a finger, launching a spectral-blue lightning orb straight at the incoming blade.
Boom!
The lightning exploded, ice shards scattering in all directions.
Fujin Third withdrew his gaze dismissively and prepared to accelerate—
When the space three meters in front of him suddenly twisted.
A dark green sword light appeared out of nowhere, striking like a viper baring its fangs—straight for his heart!
Clang—!
The sword tip slammed into his chest with a dull, heavy impact. His white robes shredded apart, revealing a close-fitting suit of armor beneath, its surface rippling with flowing golden light.
The Bloodfiend Sword was violently repelled, letting out a mournful hum before vanishing in a flash.
Cold sweat beaded on Fujin Third’s forehead. That strike had been far too strange—had it not been for the Golden Scale Armor gifted by his grandfather, he would have suffered severe injuries.
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“What a sword… What a terrifying instantaneous strike!” Fujin Third pressed a hand to his chest, killing intent and greed intertwining in his gaze.
“Void-shifting treasure, a demonic blade like this… Boy, everything on you belongs to me!”
Three days later, at the edge of a glacial rift.
Yun Che looked utterly exhausted as he drained the last drop from his gourd, bitterness filling his expression.
“The spirit liquid is almost gone… If this continues, I’ll be caught for sure.”
“Kid… I can’t hold on much longer,” Li Han’s voice sounded dangerously weak. “These repeated Void Shifts over the past three days have severely drained my remaining soul power. Two more times… and I may truly dissipate.”
Yun Che glanced back toward the horizon. A white arc of light was already tearing through the sky in pursuit. A sharp chill flickered in his eyes as the Bloodfiend Sword appeared once more.
Its glow had dimmed, hairline cracks spreading across the blade. After several ambushes over the past three days, Fujin Third had grown cautious. With the Golden Scale Armor’s astonishing defense, even the Bloodfiend Sword struggled to pierce through.
Sweeping his surroundings with his divine sense, Yun Che’s gaze suddenly locked onto something.
To the west, a vast black mountain range rose from the icefields. Its peaks were sharp as blades, shrouded in perpetual gray-purple mist. Even divine sense became sluggish within it, compressed to less than a hundred meters.
“The Severed Edge Mountains…” Yun Che recalled Zhang Mingyuan mentioning this place—a notorious danger zone in the Northern Region. The mist suppressed perception, and countless ice-type beasts lurked within.
Without hesitation, he changed direction and rushed straight toward the mountains, soon disappearing into the dense fog at their base.
He abandoned flight and began navigating the jagged terrain on foot. Though much slower, the mist’s suppression of divine sense might allow him to shake his pursuer.
Not long after, a white arc descended at the mountain’s edge.
Fujin Third revealed himself, fatigue visible on his face. Three days of relentless pursuit had taken its toll, even on a late–Foundation Establishment cultivator. Without his stockpile of recovery pills, he would have collapsed already.
Yet the treasures on Yun Che were too tempting to abandon. What unsettled him even more was that the boy’s speed never truly diminished—every time he drank from that gourd, his pace surged instead.
“That gourd must contain an extremely rare spirit liquid,” Fujin Third licked his lips, killing intent intensifying.
He hesitated briefly before the mist-shrouded Severed Edge Mountains. Their reputation was fearsome—even Foundation Establishment cultivators often met their end inside.
But thoughts of the Void-shifting treasure, the demonic sword, and the spirit liquid that rapidly restored energy overwhelmed his caution.
“Fortune favors the bold!” Fujin Third gritted his teeth and plunged into the fog.
Inside the mountains, bizarre rock formations jutted everywhere, ice pillars standing like a frozen forest. The mist not only suppressed divine sense but carried a bone-chilling corrosive cold, forcing constant circulation of spiritual energy.
Yun Che moved swiftly among the rocks, the Bloodfiend Sword hovering beside him on guard.
Suddenly, Li Han shouted urgently, “Stop!”
Yun Che halted at once.
“That ice pillar ahead… Those patterns—Devouring Spirit Ice Marks? Shouldn’t this thing have gone extinct since ancient times?” Li Han’s voice was heavy.
“Devouring Spirit Ice Marks?”
“An aberrant parasitic plant that thrives in extreme cold. It looks like natural ice纹, but it’s actually a living demon vine. It is extremely sensitive to spiritual energy and blood qi. Once provoked, its tendrils grow wildly, devouring everything imbued with power. A mature Devouring Spirit Ice Mark can even trap and kill Core Formation cultivators!”
Yun Che focused his gaze. On the surface of a massive ice pillar ahead—one that would take three men to embrace—ran several faint blue, beautiful-looking patterns. Without careful inspection, they looked no different from natural ice veins.
After a brief pause, Yun Che did not detour. Instead, he advanced slowly, completely suppressing his spiritual energy and relying solely on his physical body. With a fingertip, he lightly touched the edge of one pattern.
The ice mark trembled slightly, as if disturbed.
Yun Che retreated several meters, sliced his fingertip, and flicked a drop of blood forward.
The blood was instantly absorbed. The patterns flared with an eerie blue glow, writhing like living creatures. They peeled themselves off the ice pillar, transforming into several thumb-thick blue vines that twisted in the air before slowly settling back down, resuming their纹-like stillness.
Sweat beaded on Yun Che’s brow. He quickly withdrew and left the area.
Not long after, Fujin Third arrived.
Eager to maintain speed, he continued circulating spiritual energy, his aura fully unleashed. He paid no attention to the “beautiful” blue patterns along the ground and ice pillars.
Though his divine sense was suppressed, he could vaguely feel that Yun Che was just ahead.
“This time, let’s see where you can run!” Fujin Third sneered and surged forward.
The moment he passed the ice pillar covered in blue patterns—
The change erupted without warning.
Yun Che is no longer just fleeing—he is turning terrain and ancient horrors into weapons.
Meanwhile, Fujin Third’s greed is dragging him ever closer to the abyss.
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Who will fall victim to the Devouring Spirit Ice Marks?
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Is this the start of Yun Che’s counterkill… or the moment he’s forced to reveal even more secrets?
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